Taming of the Devil
by ScherzoVivace
Summary: There's only one person who can really tame the Devil of Rikkaidai. Who says girls can't play tennis? She's going show the boys that girls can really play tennis. AkayaXOC ON HOLD
1. Here Comes the Devil and the Tamer

Taming of the Devil

Chapter 1: Here Comes the Devil and the Tamer

Rikkaidai Fuzoku Middle School: it was known for excellent academics and sports; the most famous, however, of all the clubs, was the tennis club.

The boys were famous even before two years ago, and the girls' tennis team wasn't as… glorified as the boys' team were.

It all turned upside down when a certain girl, who was devoted to tennis as much as the other guys were, came into play.

It was the first day of the school; the boy's regular was having a morning practice, being the strict and diligent team as ever.

"A second year buchou?" Kirihara Akaya, a curly black-haired teen inquired as he was short court rallying with his senpai. He was quite grumpy—oh yes, _quite_ grumpy since he had to wake up early.

"Yeah. I heard she's really good. Like, really really good, and that she could beat majority of the guys." Marui Bunta, a magenta haired teen, answered.

"Heh, I bet she's just at that surface level." Akaya scoffed. "How good can a girl be? I bet she's not even half good as us."

"Well, she _is_ the buchou! As a second year!"

"So? They probably didn't have enough third years."

"She's the only second year in the team. Like you."

"…Whatever." He grumbled.

"Indeed, it is pretty interesting." Yanagi commented from the side, watching them rally. "Genichirou, Seiichi, do you know who this is?"

"I do not." Sanada curtly answered. "But being a second year and a buchou… she must have some special qualities."

"That's right. I really wonder myself." Yukimura said.

"No one knows her name… Probability of her being a transfer student towards end of the school last year, 81%." Yanagi recited.

"Or maybe, she might not be all that since it _is_ the girls' team. They've never gone past the preliminaries for as long as we all could remember." Niou commented from the other court.

"That is indeed true." Yanagi replied.

"Do you know her? You're in the same grade as her." Marui asked Akaya who was not really thinking about that.

"I don't know anyone that transferred last year." Akaya answered.

"Aw, shucks. I really want to see this girl though!" Marui exclaimed.

'_Che, why make such a big fuss about a girls' team? They're probably going to drop out at the preliminaries like last year anyways.'_ Akaya thought to himself.

After the practice, Akaya changed into his school uniform, and walked outside of the locker room. The school was then filled with excited chatters of the students attending the first day of the school.

He was walking while dazing out into the empty space; then he collided with something, and he stumbled backwards.

"Ow…" There was a girl, with auburn gold eyes and brown hair, rubbing her back. "Gosh, I'm so sorry!" She apologized.

Akaya looked up at the girl who spoke. _'Hey, she looks pretty cute.' _He thought.

"Sorry, it's my fault. I wasn't looking." He stood up, and the girl stood up also.

"Oh, since I held back a person…" She trailed off. "Could you tell me where class 2-B is? I'm kinda new here."

"2-B? That's where I'm going." He said. "You can follow me."

"Great!" She smiled. Then Akaya noticed something: she was holding a tennis bag.

"You play tennis?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're… Kirihara Akaya, right? The second year ace of the boys' tennis team?" She asked. "I heard you're really good, being the only second year and all."

"Ahaha, that's me!" He proudly smiled and pointed to himself. He liked this new girl; she acknowledged him. She could be his new friend.

"That's pretty cool. Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name's Asano Miki, I transferred last year… although it was the last couple weeks of the school." She held out her hand and laughed.

"I'm Kirihara Akaya." He shook her hand, and they started walking.

"So, how long have you been playing tennis?" Akaya asked.

"Hm… as long as I could remember." She said.

"You must be good then." He said.

"Eh, not really." She smiled. "I assume you've been playing for a long time too?"

"Yeah."

They were inside the class by the time they noticed. And coincidentally, their seats were right next to each other.

"Oh, cool." She nonchalantly walked over and put her bag down. Akaya walked over too, and sat down.

"Where did you go before you came here?" He asked, since there was about five minutes left before the bell.

"I went to Hyotei." She answered.

"Hyotei?" He exclaimed, and the class' attention turned to the two. He quieted down, and the class started talking again. "Why'd you come here when you went to such a good school? Isn't it private too?"

"Yeah, but I didn't really like it there, so… plus, I don't want to be stuck between rich, spoiled kids." She crossed her arms and said.

"That's true. But aren't you… rich if you got in?"

"No, I won the scholarship."

"Heh~ You're pretty smart, huh?"

"Not really. I was lucky." She laughed. The bell rang, and the typical first-day-of-the-school routine started.

"Miki!" Someone called Miki during the break after the first period.

"Hey Riko!" She greeted.

"Who's this?" She glanced at Akaya, who was fast asleep on the desk.

"Kirihara Akaya." She chuckled a little and said. "He's been asleep for a while… maybe I should wake him up?"

"Nah, he'll wake up on his own. Anyways, are you ready for the first day of the practice?" Riko nudged her friend and asked.

"More than ready." She laughed. "I'm just still unsure if I should be the buchou…"

"You'll do just fine. After all, you are the best player in the school!" She exclaimed.

"Ahaha, I doubt that. Now that you mention it, I really want to see how good the boys' tennis team is." She looked at Akaya and said.

"Well, you'll get to see them soon! I'm sure the boys' team would be curious about you too."

Then the bell rang, signaling the start of the next period. Riko went back to her seat after saying good-bye, and Miki got ready to begin the next period; then a certain seaweed haired boy came into her view.

"Kirihara?" She quietly spoke. He didn't even budge. A scary-looking teacher was walking in; then he got ready to speak. _'Uh-oh.'_

"Psst. Kirihara!" She softly whispered again. No reaction from him. She nudged him a little. "Kirihara!"

"Huh-wha?" He shot up, with his mouth and eyes half-open.

"Teacher's here! I don't think you should make this one mad!" She pointed at the teacher with her chin and said.

"Oh shit. He looks pretty darn dangerous." Akaya gulped and sighed in relief. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"What class is this?" Akaya asked, as the teacher scribbled something down on the chalkboard. It said, in English, _English_ and his name in Kanji.

'_Of all the things, a terminator- muscle man just _has_ to be the English teacher?' _Akaya dreadfully yelled in his mind as he gulped. It was a good thing they weren't having any lessons—

"You have a pop quiz." He said.

"EHH?" The whole class exclaimed.

"No question. Ten minutes, you'll begin as soon as you get the paper." He said as he passed down the papers. Akaya was not believing this; him and his rotten luck.

"Fuuuu" Akaya exhaled and put his head down on the desk. He got at least 10 out of 10 wrong.

'_I better not ask how it went.' _Miki sweatdropped at the boy's reaction and thought. Rest of the period passed by in a breeze; then it was finally the end of the school, which meant club activities.

"Bye Kirihara." Miki said as she walked out with her friend Riko.

"Bye." He said too, and walked to the locker room himself. Miki and Riko walked to the girls' locker room too; they got changed into the girls' uniforms.

"Looking good, Asano-buchou!" Riko pat her back and said. The two walked out, holding their tennis bags; they made their way to the girls' tennis team courts, which was not so far away from the boys' tennis team.

When she stepped into the courts, all the team greeted her; she really felt the important position of being the captain.

It's not like she didn't have any experience; she was the captain back in elementary school too. When she was selected as the buchou by the third years that graduated last year, all she had in mind was to go for the level that is a matter-of-course for Rikkaidai: nationals.

"Everyone gather!" She spoke firmly, and everyone gathered around quickly. Good; at least they were cooperative.

"_Next year's buchou is going to be…" Everyone_ _hushed down to listen carefully. "Asano Miki. Fuku-buchou will be Eda Hanae. That is all. This is my final decision, and I will not change it." _

_It was a mid-summer day during the summer break; girls' team gathered to watch who was going to be nominated as the buchou._

_Everyone nodded along; they didn't object since they were aware of Miki's skills. _

"_Buchou! Why did you pick me?" Miki asked, when they were along together in the club room after all the members left. "I entered the club just couple weeks ago, and—"_

"_You are going to lead the team next year—to nationals, and to the top. I picked you because you have what it takes to lead this team. And I believe that for two years, a lot will happen." She said, picking up her bag. _

"_But—"_

"_No buts. I picked you, and you will respect my decision. At least do that for me, and think of it as one last wish from your buchou." _

"…" _Miki shut her mouth, and paused; then she slowly nodded. _

"_Good." She smiled. "Now, you must remember. We do not have coaches nor adult managers. Everything must be done by you and the team only. You're going to be firm but flexible of others' opinion. You are going to be confident of your position and never let anyone get to you. You will never be the first one to break down, and you will never be the one to give up at any time. Do you understand? Being the buchou is an important job." _

"_Yes." _

"Hey Miki-chan." The fuku-buchou Eda Hanae stood next to her and greeted.

"Hi Hanae-senpai." She greeted also. The team stood in a uniform pattern, and looked at the two leaders of the team.

"Welcome, I'm the buchou Asano Miki. And this is the fuku-buchou Eda Hanae." Miki introduced.

"Renji. I'll go check on the new buchou for the girls' team with Sanada." Yukimura said, walking towards the gate with Sanada.

"I'll go too. I'm curious." Yanagi followed him, and the regulars ended up tailing behind the two.

"I don't want to!" Akaya flailed around as Niou and Marui dragged him out of the courts. "Why do I have to visit her and waste my time?"

"Just come!"

"Curiosity, is it Genichirou?" Yanagi smiled and asked.

"No. I'm serving my duty as a senior to help out an underclassmen."

"He is curious." Marui whispered to Niou and he nodded.

"Hou…" Sanada raised his eyebrows, turning back to look at the two who flinched a little.

"N-Nothing, Sanada." Marui smiled nervously.

"There she is." They gathered outside the fence.

"Our goal this year… is nationals. If anyone's here to have practice as an excuse to watch the boys and scream in the daylight, you can leave, the gate's right behind me." She said, and some girls' eyes wandered around. "I won't permit anyone ditching, being late, or not taking the practice seriously. If you're not devoted to tennis, the team won't need you so I'll make you walk out the gate. "

"Damn. Pretty intense." Marui whistled.

"Ahhh!" Akaya gasped; it wasn't _her_, or was she? Then some girls noticed the regulars and started squealing.

"You, you, you, you, and you," She pointed at the five without looking to see the boys' team regulars. "I advise you to leave, whether or not you're good at tennis, and whether or not you've been in this team before."

"She really is intense." Niou commented. "Pretty cute too." Sanada, Yukimura, and Yanagi were silently watching this; and Yukimura had that mysterious smile on his face.

"You can't treat your senpai this way!" One of the third years who got pointed shouted. Miki frowned at her.

"I have every right as a buchou. If you won't cooperate, I'll take it as your unwillingness to devote for this team's progress. I'm sure Eda-senpai and I made a new set of rules to expel you from this team whenever necessary. Like I said, the gate's right behind me. I'd rather walk out by myself than be kicked out." Miki crossed her arms and said. The girls stared at her; then one by one, the five walked out.

"Now, I hope all you are devoted for tennis alone to be in this team." Eda also added.

"I'll make the practice after school to six o'clock, five times a week. So that's Monday through Friday. I will choose regulars based on ranking matches within the team. It'll start this Wednesday, and the final eight will be the regulars. Now, let's start by running some laps. Ten laps around the court."

"Ten?" Some girls complained.

"I said, ten. That's nothing compared to what we'll get to." Miki firmly stated again, and the team started running.

"I want to talk to her." Yukimura walked towards the gate and opened it; Miki noticed, and turned around.

"Hi Eda." Yukimura smiled and greeted the fuku-buchou.

"Hi Yukimura. Miki, say hi, this is the boys' team's buchou."

"Hi. I'm Asano Miki." She smiled and said. She looked like a completely different person from the court just a minute ago.

"Hi. I'm Yukimura Seiichi. So you're the second year buchou, huh…?" Yukimura carefully inquired the girl.

"Yes." She spotted Akaya; their eyes met, and she smiled at him.

"If you need any advice or help, feel free to ask anytime." He smiled nicely and said.

"Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go run some laps…"

"Ah, right. Sorry for holding you back."

"It's fine. Let's go senpai." She said to Hanae and started to run.

"You know her?" Marui asked frantically.

"Yeah, she's in my class. She sits next to me." He blankly said. "I didn't know _she_ was the buchou."

"I wonder how good she is at tennis." Yukimura said. "She'll make a fine buchou, but without the skill in tennis it won't be as great."

"We'll see her play soon enough." Sanada said.

"So, Sanada? What do you think?" Yukimura asked, and Sanada stared at him.

"About what, Yukimura?"

"Asano-chan, of course." Yukimura eyed the girl running; she had already lapped the members. Akaya just stared at her with wide eyes and mouth; he was _not_ believing this.

"…Her leadership skills are fair." He curtly answered, and Yukimura smiled at his response.

"Alright. Let's get back to our practice everyone."


	2. Sneak Peek

Taming of the Devil

Chapter 2: Sneak-Peek

"Begin short-court rallying!" Miki yelled throughout the courts and the players began rallying. She stood at the usual spot where everything was in her view, then began examining the others' forms and shots.

"Anyone catch your attention?" Hanae asked, looking over at the players also.

"Yes… I spot a few." She narrowed her eyes. "The one in the red shirt and the one in the black sleeveless shirt."

"Hmm… Yeah, they have clean forms." Hanae inquired and replied. "What about that one with a neon shorts?"

"She seems good."

"We also have some returning players… I'm rather excited for the ranking match!" She exclaimed.

"I am too." Miki chuckled.

"Let's go rally. We need to warm up ourselves."

"Alright."

The two began rallying at the service box, then at the baseline; the team members marveled at the perfect form of Miki, the consistency and power in every single shot. The two sped up and began rallying intensely; Hanae wasn't a shabby player herself. In fact, she was the one of the only three who didn't lose a single time at the tournaments last year (although they went to only preliminaries).

"Everyone gather!" She called in. The team hurriedly ran to the two, and stood around her.

"As I said before, the ranking match will start on Wednesday. I'll organize the game and explain the rules clearly that day. The club sign-ups are tomorrow; I'll be taking registrations from non-returning members and the first years, so today and tomorrow will just be a free practice."

Everyone nodded.

"Rule number one: no fighting. Rule number two: always focus at tennis and nothing else. That means no standing around and slacking off. Rule number three: respect your teammates. That's all the rules you will need to follow. Our goal is nationals; I hope everyone's here to pursue the same goal. That's all, you may get back to your practices."

The team left with an excited chatter; the practice ended with everyone practicing hard, which Miki was satisfied with.

"That girl was really something." Niou said as he took a sip of water. "And cute, too."

"Interesting indeed." Yanagi nodded.

'_I didn't know she was the buchou!' _Akaya was yelling in his mind. _'And here I was bad-mouthing her from the start!'_

"Akaya?" Yukimura called the boy.

"Y-Yeah?"

"Try to get along well with her." He said, smiling. "It'd be nice if you guys get along so we can all get along."

"Okay."

After the boys' team was done, the regulars passed by the girls' courts as they went to their lockers to change. Miki was playing a match with Hanae, while some girls standing around were watching.

"Takamoto." Sanada called the girl watching since she knew her.

"Hmm? Oh, hi Sanada." The brown-haired girl turned around and greeted the boy.

"Are they playing a match?"

"Yup."

"What's the score?"

"4-0, with Miki in the lead."

"4-0?" The regulars were surprised. Although the girls' team didn't get past the preliminaries, Eda Hanae, along with the buchou from last year, were outstanding players.

"How good is she?"

"Good. Really good." She said. "I don't know how else to describe. She might even beat one of you guys." The regulars were slightly irritated by her proposal. The Rikkai regulars were all on the national caliber; certainly not the typical normal players people ran into on the street courts.

"I'm saying, she's really good. She beat Hanabusa-buchou last year as a freshman with a score of 6-0."

"She beat Hanabusa-san…?" They were surprised again. Hanabusa was one of the top players in Kanagawa district, it's just that the rest of the team was a bit… low on standards. She even won the championship for girls' division for Kanagawa district tournament couple years ago.

"So Hanabusa-senpai picked her, a freshman at that time, to lead our team. She probably saw something in that girl. She was a transfer student from Hyotei that time; the girls' team there was probably a bit too annoying for her to handle with girls squealing over that that dick named Atobe or something." She scoffed and said. "Anyways, we leave the team in her hands now. We'll get to nationals for sure."

"That's really interesting…" Yukimura trailed off, watching her play. Everyone thought that she had a beautiful, cleanly perfect form. "I would like to play her one day."

"She can probably beat Kirihara."

Oof. She shouldn't have. Kirihara's ego was _really_ irritated. "Hey, a girl can't beat me." He crossed his arms and pouted.

"That's what every guy that got creamed by her said before the match." She chuckled. "Ah, the match's over."

With a score of 6-0, Miki had beat Hanae.

"Huhuhu, you're strong as ever, Miki-chan." She chuckled and shook her hand.

"You're getting stronger and stronger yourself, Hanae-senpai." She smiled back. When she walked back to where Takamoto was, she spotted the regular boys.

"Takamoto-senpai, you were still here?"

"Yeah. I wanted to see you guys play. Nice game."

"Thanks." The two answered.

"Hi!" She exclaimed, wiping her sweat with a towel. She seemed like a completely different person from when she was on the courts.

'_S-She's kind of like Yukimura…'_ They thought.

"Hi there." Yukimura smiled and greeted first. "You're really good."

"Ahaha, thanks. I heard that you're amazing too!" She exclaimed. "The Big Three of Rikkaidai… sounds pretty bomb, if I must say so myself."

"I'd like to play you one day." Yukimura replied.

"Me too." Yanagi added, and Sanada nodded along.

"That'd be an honor. Hi Kirihara!" She waved gleefully, and he awkwardly waved back.

"O-Ou…"

"I didn't properly introduce myself yet. I'm Yanagi Renji." He said.

"I'm Sanada Genichirou."

The regulars introduced themselves one by one.

"I heard that you're in Akaya's class." Yanagi said. "Please take a good care of this boy." He patted him on the head, and Miki chuckled at the cute scene.

"Huhuhu, of course."

"H-Hey, I can take care of myself, Yanagi-senpai!" Akaya blushed in embarrassment and fumbled.

"Something tells me it's not that convincing." Yanagi chuckled and replied.

Then after they were done changing, Miki said good-bye to Hanae and Takamoto who lived in the opposite direction, and headed out to the main gate. Then she saw Akaya.

"Kirihara!" She called him; he turned around and saw her running to him.

"H-Hey." Akaya was slightly surprised to find her there.

"Hi!" She grinned and Akaya swore that she wasn't like that at all when he saw her play on the courts.

"You're walking this way too?"

"Yup!"

"Hey then we could walk together."

"Hehehe, you bet!" She exclaimed, and they started walking.

"I really didn't expect you to be the buchou though…" He trailed off.

"Ahaha, yeah I can kinda see where you're getting at." She grinned goofily and scratched her head. "I want to play a match with you someday. You should be really fun to play against."

"It's on." He gave her a challenging smirk which she returned. They walked and talked; then Akaya realized that he was almost at his house but she was still walking.

"How far are you going?"

"I live on this street."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah. I live right here." She blinked and pointed at the house right next to Akaya's.

"I live right there…!" He pointed at his house.

"What? No way! We're neighbors?"

"What a coincidence!" He exclaimed.

"Ahaha, now I could ask you whenever I feel like playing tennis!"

"Yup. Ask me anytime, I'll play when I'm free."

"Cool! See ya~" Miki went inside, and Akaya went inside also. He thought about the row of surprising events that day; he still wasn't believing that Miki was the buchou. And a really good one at that. And that she lived right next to him.

'_Ah, well…'_

Another day passed, and it was finally the Wednesday, the day of the ranking match in the girls' team. Due to the registration that happened the day before, they had more first years and some others who wanted to play.

"Asano Miki. Blood type AB, birthdate September 24th and currently a second year. Height is 160 centimeters, and she transferred from Hyotei last year… and here's what's more interesting." Yanagi recited, and the regulars all perked up their ears.

"She used to play tournaments in Europe, it seems… and apparently, she even played in some of the older boys' divisions and won championships."

"No way~" Marui said.

"Well she _is_ supposed to be good… We'll know when we see her true potentials. I don't even know what kind of tennis she does yet. I need to collect more data."

Miki had won three out of three games she played so far; she needed to win more to get a perfect win in the ranking tournament.

"Miki, it's your turn now. I'll watch the table." Hanae said, walking over to her chair.

"Ah, thanks Hanae-senpai." She stood up, and entered her court; on the other side was a third year who she didn't see last year.

"Just to make clear… you're a second year, right?" She asked. She was a bit taller than Miki, with short brown hair and eyes to match the hair color.

"Yes." Miki answered.

"I heard that you're really good. Let's have a good game." She said and walked over to her court after deciding who was going to serve. She had the first service; from what Hanae heard from Miho, the opponent, Shiroki Miyu was an excellent player who didn't sign up for the team because they sucked so far… once she heard that a second year was the buchou, she seemed to gain interest, and signed up for the club.

She tossed up the ball, and served; it was pretty fast. Miki chased it right away, and returned with twice the speed.

"They're having a ranking match!" Marui yelled as he ran into the courts. "That Asano girl and Shiroki's playing!"

"Shiroki Miyu and Asano Miki, huh…" Yanagi trailed off. "That's an interesting match. I'd like to see that and I also need some data."

"I would like to also." Yukimura said. So again the regulars ended up visiting the next door courts; much to their amazement, no one squealed or screamed when they came. It seemed that Miki put some senses into the girls.

The opponent, Shiroki Miyu, was hitting _hard_ and all Miki did was to defend every shot.

"She seems to be having a hard time…" Jackal trailed off.

"No, look at where her shots land." Yanagi, a careful observer, said. The regulars intently watched the ball; surprisingly, every shot that Miki returned bounced on the same spot over and over.

"Although Shiroki's attacking… the one actually in control of the game is Asano." He said. The regulars were marveled by the skill, as the ball bounced on the exact same spot shot after another.

"She seems to play a defensive yet pinpointing tennis. But it seems like she's holding back a lot." Yanagi explained and jot the notes down. "Way _too_ consistent to be playing such a textbook-styled tennis… she has more things up her sleeves, for sure."

"You're good." She said, as Shiroki lobbed a ball accidentally. "But you can be better." Miki jumped up, raised her racquet, and swung hard; the ball flew past Shiroki in less than blink of an eye, ending the match with a score of 6-0.

"She...!" Yanagi seemed shocked. "She didn't even lose one point throughout the match...!"

"..." the regulars just stood there, thinking that Yukimura and Miki were awfully alike. Yukimura just stood there clueless with an ever-smiling expression.

The two girls walked to the net and shook hands. While Shiroki was covered in sweat, Miki just had small drops on her forehead.

"You're too good." Shiroki said, smiling. "I'm glad that I have a chance to play tennis with you."

"Thanks." Miki said, smiling also. She looked around, and everyone had left after their ranking matches or stayed behind to look at her match. They started to leave, one by one after saying good-bye to their buchou and fuku-buchou.

"I wanna play her." Akaya scoffed and said. "Oi, Asano!" He called out.

"Yeah?" She looked up as she was drinking her water.

"Play a match with me."


	3. Taming Starts

Taming of the Devil

Chapter 3: Taming Starts

"Hey Asano!" Akaya called out.

"Hm?" She looked up, wiping a bit of her sweat and putting her racquet away.

"Play a match with me."

Everyone was silent for couple of seconds, staring back and forth at the two.

"Okay." Miki blinked and agreed nonchalantly, taking the racquet back out of the bag.

"Oi, Akaya, she's still tired from the match!" Marui gave him a clout on the head and scolded him.

"That's right Akaya. It may be a little too tiring for the lady." Sanada said also.

Miki's ego perked up at that; she had a pretty down-to-earth personality outside of courts. But once on the courts if someone or something just shuts her down she went ka-boom!

"I can play." Miki said firmly. "Get on the courts, Kirihara."

"Right on." He smirked and rushed out to the courts.

"Wait, Asano!" Yukimura stopped her.

"Yes?"

"Be careful."

"…Alright." She raised her eyebrows but answered anyways.

Akaya was waiting for her impatiently, tapping his foot with his arms crossed. "C'mon, whatcha takin' so long?" He complained.

"Ladies take time to get ready." She laughed a little and answered. "Now, smooth or rough?"

"Smooth" The racquet spun and fell on the ground.

"It's smooth."

"I'll serve first." Akaya grabbed the ball and walked onto the court. Miki went to her side too, and got into a ready position; Akaya stalled no time, and tossed and hit the ball as soon as Miki was ready.

Then the intense rally between the two second years began.

"She's good… keeping up with Akaya like that…" Jackal awed at Miki who was doing just as well as Akaya.

"Don't worry, there's more to come."

"It's satisfying to see a girl devote so much to a sport." Yukimura smiled and said, watching the two rally back and forth.

"Yup. She does work hard. Probably as hard as Sanada, I bet." Takamoto Miho said. "There's only one thing I could say: she's _really_ good. Not on a mere middle school level."

"Anyhow, she better watch out for Akaya." Jackal said. "It's been about 15 minutes…"

Just as he said, Akaya's eyes started to turn red. Miki raised her eyebrows, unable to comprehend such change.

"I'll dye you in red!" He laughed maniacally and served, gripping the ball with his knuckle. The ball flew at a fast speed; Miki carefully observed the ball and noticed that it put the weirdest spin on the ball. She did a split step right as the ball landed, and as it bounced irregularly, she was able to return it.

"If the ball's path cannot be predicted, then one can use the reflexes to return it." Miki stated, returning the ball.

"She returned Akaya's knuckle serve!" Marui marveled and whistled.

The ball's power started rushing up the tempo and started pushing Miki back. Miki was consistently returning—then her eyes glinted at a slightly high, lob-like ball, and smashed it to the corner.

"Power needs to be used at the right time."

"Interesting…" Yanagi mumbled. "Her play style is just like Yukimura's. She can perceive the ball and return any."

"So she can give yips?" Marui exclaimed.

"I do not know about that. It seems that she could, if she were to… gain more experience. Or maybe, she just has other skills up her sleeve. From her physical competency, it seems that she does just as much as the boys in jogging and muscle-training."

After twenty minutes or so, Akaya lost badly with a score of 6-2. They walked up to the net and shook hands. Akaya looked challenged. Determined. Except, he wasn't sure if this girl would talk to him anymore after seeing his devil mode.

"Che, you just got lucky this time."

"Lucky doesn't apply to this score." Marui said and Niou snickered.

"SENPAI!"

"Good game." She chuckled and said. "I'm glad I got to play you; You're really cool!"

"Th-Thanks?" Akaya flushed and stuttered. He was pissed off and a little taken aback at this girl; he was pissed more like himself, but he couldn't say anything since she put on such a nice smile. And he was slightly puzzled that she called him "cool" which was the last thing he expected to hear from her after going into red eye mode. Marui and Niou cooed, upsetting Akaya.

"Anyways, it's getting late; let's start packing up." Yukimura said, clasping his hands. He thought that he saw a pretty good tennis match, and was fascinated by this new second year buchou.

The Big Three were walking home together like always.

"What do you think of the ranking match Asano thought of?" Yukimura asked the two.

"By holding the ranking match all biased choices are eliminated, so the efficiency raises by a great deal." Yanagi said. "A very good idea." Sanada also nodded in approval.

"She fascinates me a lot. I wonder how the girls' team will do this year." Yukimura said, smiling unusually.

The next day, at school—

"ASANOOO!" Akaya ran into the class, startling the girl.

"Yeah?"

"I DON'T GET ANYTHING FOR THE ENGLISH QUIZ!" He panicked, talking out a worksheet. "I COULDN'T EVEN SOLVE THIS!"

"This is basically the format of the quiz though." She looked at it and raised her eyebrows. Then Akaya looked at her with pleading eyes speaking "please save me."

"Ahaha, I guess I could help." So then, Miki started teaching Akaya. Akaya thought that she was a really nice girl; even if he kept forgetting the difference between "where" and "wear" and "it's" and "its"Asano didn't get mad at him for it.

"There you go." Miki said as she put her pencil down after checking his work.

"Yes, I'm finally done!" Akaya exclaimed, sighing. "Thanks, I owe you one."

"You're welcome." She smiled nicely. "Even if it were me I'd hate to get scolded by our English teacher."

"He's like a frickin' gigantic walking tiki-golemn! How is he not a pro wrestler?" Akaya said. The two joked around, talking about teachers and things in school.

"KIRIHARA!" The teacher yelled. Akaya flinched and stood up.

"Y-YESS!"

"Meet me during lunch. You too, Asano."

"Y-Yes!"

The two sat down, and looked at each other, fear clearly shown on their faces. The class went by fast, which Miki and Akaya did not appreciate at all.

"Dude, we're fucked! We're SO FUCKED!" Akaya banged his head on the table repeatedly and said, clenching his hair.

"Haaaa…" Miki just sighed. At the end of lunch, fighting back the fear, Akaya and Miki went to the teacher's office and visited the English teacher.

"Excuse me, Komori-sensei." Miki called him. He glanced, and turned around on his chair, and crossed his arms.

"Good, you guys are here." He said, tapping his index finger onto his arm. The two gulped down, seeing the intimidating glare from the teacher.

"Kirihara. Asano."

"We're sorry!" The two bowed together and apologized. The teacher was taken aback for a second.

"Why are you apologizing, Asano?" Puzzled, he asked. The two straightened back up, puzzled themselves.

"I-I thougt we were in trouble for talking in class…?" Akaya trailed off. _'And not to mention calling you a big, gigantic walking tiki-golemn…?' _

"No, it's something else."

They inwardly sighed. Looks like they can live another day. The teacher went through his file—and dug up a paper marked all over in red.

'_Shit.'_ Akaya cussed immediately after seeing the paper with his name on it. It wasn't just a paper—it was the quiz they took today. He did pretty well on it—at least he _thought_ he did, after being tutored by Asano and all.

"You scored two out of fourteen on this." The teacher showed him the paper. "And you never did your homework, you never paid attention in class, and you bageled your first quiz." He frowned and glared at Akaya. Akaya was feeling very comfortable. Oh yes, veeery, very uncomfortable.

"Asano." He called her.

"Yes?"

"I want you to tutor Kirihara." He said, giving her the do-it-or-else look. "Two times a week. I expect you to show some progress in this boy."

"Okay."

"You can leave now."

After they left the teachers' office, Akaya ranted. "TUTOR?"

"Well, it looks like you have no choice. I mean, I don't mind but it's solely your choice… and I know for the fact that Sanada-san won't really er, permit this."

"You're right…" Akaya bit his lips. "God dammit. Which day's fine for you."

"Any day."

"Then how about Wednesday and Saturday?"

"Alright. Starting today?"

"Sure. You can come over starting today." Akaya said.

"Okay. I'll see you after practice then."

So the rest of the class went by without much trouble. Akaya thought that she reminded him of a mixture between the Big Three. She was good at every subject (at least she _seemed to be) _and academically excellent like Sanada. Not to mention, she was good at tennis. But she had that vibe—that nice, gentle vibe (although it was a little twisted on the courts, just like Yukimura) and was quite delicate in thought like Yanagi.

Her personality was similar to his, however; she was rather lively when she spoke.

He looked at her as she stood up and explained a math problem fluently.

"By using the synthetic division…"

'_She's seriously like one of those overachievers… like fuku-buchou. What subject is she not good at?'_ Akaya thought. Although he knew her only for about two days, he thought that she was one of the smartest people he's ever met. She and Sanada would get along just fine.

Her eyes—her auburn, golden that had slightly red tints were unique and pretty. At least he thought that it was. Her hair fell a little below her shoulders; facial features? Overall pretty. Like Yukimura.

Miki caught Akaya staring at her as she sat down after finishing the problem; she put her face down too and stared back, startling Akaya.

"What are you looking at?" She asked, smiling. Akaya swore to god that he saw Yukimura's face overlap hers.

"Nothing." He avoided her eyes, blushing a little.

Miki thought that this little kid was a bit too cute for god's sake. Maybe a lot. Like a little puppy/brother.

"Hehe, so cute!" She let out, chuckling. Akaya's face heated up immediately, blood rushing all the way to his head.

"D-D-Don't call me cute!" He began stuttering. Miki gave him cooing eyes and chuckled again.

"It's the fact." She said as she held her from laughing.

"Che. By the way… what subject are you not good at?" Akaya asked.

"Hm… that'd be history."

"History?" Akaya raised his eyebrows and gaped. History was an easy class for him.

"Yeah. For some reason it's not my thing. I only do well because of memorization stuff, but I soon forget them all unlike math formulas." She said. "So once I even scored a D on my history test. Ahaha." She laughed nonchalantly.

Akaya sweatdropped at an unusual carelessness of the girl. At least she didn't boast her intelligence in front of people. He hated it when people did that.

"Say, since you were at Hyotei, you must know who Atobe Keigo is." He said, interested to find more about Hyotei.

"Atobe Keigo…?" She raised her eyebrows. She then thought for a moment, dazing into the ceiling, mumbling his name. "Atobe… Atobe… ah"

"You know him right?"

"Yeah. He's really arrogant. I don't like him."

"But I heard he's a good tennis player."

"He is. But it's so noisy there; girls, maybe in units of couple hundreds, crowd around the court and squeal and scream the regulars' names all day. It's really annoying. Think of fangirls here times infinity."

Akaya's face dreaded in fear and disgust. Now he knows where to not go for transferring schools.

"That is so annoying."

"Right? And funnier thing is, Atobe actually enjoys that kind of attention."

"So he's an attention whore."

"Pretty much, yeah. Honestly, he's not _that_ good looking. People fuss over him having the 'features of a God' and all, which I really don't see. But I guess he's a really good tennis player."

The class bell rang, and students exited the room excitedly. Miki and Akaya walked to the changing rooms and got ready for another day of intense tennis practice.

Miki was thinking of the Big Three; if only she could play one of them, she'd have no wish. Preferably Yukimura.

'_I wonder if he would play a game with me if I asked…'_

* * *

><p><strong>Hello, readers. I'd appreciate it if every single one of you, especially those of you who subscribed, were to leave a review. Reviews help me write, so please be supportive of the new story. <strong>


	4. Anticipated Match

Taming of the Devil

Chapter 4: Anticipated Match

Miki walked out to the courts; as soon as she entered, players all said, "cheers, buchou!" and stopped whatever they were doing. Miki was impressed with it.

"Everyone, gather!" Miki hollered and everyone rushed over to her. "As you can see, the ranking match ended yesterday; since I need more time to look at everyone and decide the position for the regulars, you could have a free time today. You can't leave, however; as long as you're playing, it's fine with me." She said. "Alright, let's waste no time, everyone get back to practice!"

They scurried back to their courts and began practicing.

She saw Yukimura walk towards the club shed nearby; Yukimura noticed her and smiled. Miki bowed a little and smiled back.

"Hi Asano." He said, walking towards her.

"Hello." She smiled and greeted. "I was wondering…" She trailed off.

"Hm?" Yukimura smiled nicely as ever and asked.

"I was wondering if you'd like to play a match with me." She said and clenched her fists a little. Yukimura just blinked and stared at her—

"Sure, why not? I'd like to see your true potential as well… Does tomorrow after practice sound fine?"

"Yes!" She replied in happiness. "Thank you!"

"No problem. Then, good luck with the practices." He said nicely and left, his jacket on his shoulder moving left and right to his footsteps.

Miki was inwardly shouting and screaming in ineffable joy; she's always wanted to play one of the Big Three, especially the Child of God Yukimura.

"Miki, what's up with you and Yukimura~?" Hanae nudged her a little, making Miki laugh.

"It's not like that, senpai." She said. "I just asked him if I could play a match with him."

"Oh." She blinked. "Well, I guess the juicy gossip's gone."

"Sorry." Miki laughed it off. She resumed hardcore practice; after choosing eight regulars, including herself, Hanae, and Takamoto, she gathered them. Since she was the only second year among the regulars, she was just glad that no one was so stubborn or stuck-up.

"Anyhow, our tournament starts two weeks later. We'll train as hard as possible, and aim for the nationals. Let's do our best, senpai-tachi."

"Yeah!"

"From tomorrow and until the Nationals, we'll make the training regime extra-hard. I hope you're all prepared." They all nodded.

"Good. The training will take place Monday through Friday, after school to 6 o'clock. There will be a morning practice every Wednesday, and every other week we'll have practices on Saturday mornings 9 am through 12 pm. On Fridays we'll have mandatory shuffle matches and Hanae senpai and I will be recording your score, time, and etc. Any questions?"

"When does the morning practice start?"

"Ah, yes. Since school starts at 8:20, the practice will start at 6:30 and end at 7:50, so you'll have 30 minutes to get ready for first period."

"Cool."

"One more thing—we have our first preliminaries match about two weeks from now. It will be next next week Saturday, so be aware of the date, and I'll keep you updated when it comes close. It's 6 o'clock; I'll call it a day today, and I'll see you all tomorrow."

The team dispersed and left. Miki went to the locker room, took a quick shower, and headed to the school gate to find Akaya.

"Kirihara!" She called him.

"Hey." He casually greeted her. "Let's get going."

"Alright."

They started walking towards home.

"Did you choose your regulars?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. We made our final decision today."

"Are they good?"

"Yup. I'll definitely make it to the nationals this year." She stated confidently.

"Hou…"

"How are the regulars in your team?"

"We're just awesome as always." Akaya boasted and Miki laughed.

"I'm sure."

"Heeey…"

"No, I'm sure!" She laughed again.

So the two arrived at Akaya's house in no time.

"Mom, I'm home! I brought the tutor with me!" He yelled as he took off his shoes. "You can take them off here."

The two heard some gliding footsteps on the wooden floor; then they were greeted by a nice-looking woman of late-30s.

"Hi! You must be Asano Miki-chan!" She greeted gleefully.

"Hello, Kirihara-obasan." She politely introduced herself. "I'm Asano Miki."

"I heard that you'll be tutoring Aka-chan from today on!"

"Mom, not that name!" Akaya whispered to her mom as Miki stifled a laugh at the cute nickname.

"Oh, come on. Well what are you waiting for? Come in. I'm fix you guys some snacks to eat while you study."

"Thank you."

"Follow me." He said and walked upstairs and down a small corridor. He opened the door to his room; much to her surprise, his room was pretty clean. For a guy.

"Huh, I guess my mom tidied up a little. Here, sit." He pulled a chair next to the desk. He sat down, and started taking out textbooks.

"Haaa… I wish English didn't exist."

"Hahaha. I wish history didn't exist." She laughed too, taking out her notes. And they soon began the tutoring session—thankfully, Akaya wasn't _that_ dumb of a boy. In fact, she thought he was really decent in all other subjects, it's just that his foreign language-processing part of the brain wasn't… the most exquisite one.

"Aaaaah, I get it now. What the hell, the teacher could've explained it liked this and I would've understood!" He complained.

"He is sorta bad at teaching, I guess."

"Not, "sorta," but "really" bad!"

As Miki was packing up to leave, there was a knock on the door.

"How's tutoring going~?" Mrs. Kirihara asked as she put down a tray of snacks and goods on the desk.

"We just finished. It was good." Akaya replied.

"Ah, then don't leave just yet! I baked some cookies for you guys."

"Thanks mom."

"Thank you." Miki said too.

"You're very welcome!" She sweetly said and left the room.

"Your mom's so sweet." Miki said as she munched on a cookie.

"She's a devil in disguise." Akaya said and shuddered, which made Miki laugh.

"These cookies are good…" Miki admired, grabbing another one.

After some chit-chat Miki left Akaya's house; because of her mom, Akaya ended up seeing Miki up until her gate, which wasn't too far.

"Thanks, although it's only a foot away." Miki laughed.

"No problem. See you tomorrow." He said and waved; Miki waved and entered her house.

* * *

><p>-The Next Day-<p>

Miki was having practice held at the courts as usual; she was thinking about her match with Yukimura that was to be held after practice. She was excited.

After the practice was done, she was the first one to head over to the boys' courts. They were done with theirs too and members started leaving, one by one.

"Ah, so you didn't forget." Yukimura smiled as he saw her.

"How could I? I've been dying for this." Miki said.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Akaya asked as he left the gate.

"I'll be playing a match with Asano-chan, that's why." Yukimura answered and all the members in the proximity opened their eyes wide.

"Well I guess I'm up to watch this one." Marui said, sitting down on one of the benches—and one by one all the regulars decided to stay, as well as some members from the girls' team.

"A~ah! There she goes again, challenging so recklessly~" Hanae said.

"I guess that's who she is." Takamoto answered and chuckled.

"Good luck Miki~!" Riko cheered her on.

The two players went up to the net to decide the serve. They spun a racquet and it was Yukimura's serve first.

"Let's have a good game." The two shook hands.

"Don't go easy on me, Yukimura-senpai." She said, gripping firmly.

"That—" he smiled, "depends on how well you show me your skills."

Miki nodded with a determined look and walked over to her court.

Yukimura started bouncing the ball; he lifted up high into the air, and hit it with his racquet. Miki received it, sending it to Yukimura's blind spot, getting the first point.

"Heh, Child of God just gave away a point." Takamoto commented a bit sarcastically.

"Whoa, that was the fasted one I've seen out of her returns so far!" Riko exclaimed.

"Not bad…" Yukimura mumbled, switching to the ad side. "I guess I'll step it up a little then.

* * *

><p>In about an hour, their scores were not very different: 3-2, with Yukimura in lead. Each point took at least five minutes to end and neither of them thought of giving up a point.<p>

'_She's still not showing me something although her play style's extremely similar to mine.' _He thought as Miki got ready to serve.

Then suddenly, some sort of bluish aura seemed to surround her;

"That's…!"

"Muga no kyouchi…!" Yanagi was in awe; only Sanada and Yukimura were able to reach that level.

Miki tossed the ball up into the air and served; as soon as the ball came in contact with the ground, it bounced in a random direction.

"That's Akaya's knuckle serve!" Marui exclaimed.

"DA FUQ?"

"AKAYA! LANGUAGE!"

"Oh. S-Sorry."

From then on, Miki played haphazardly, switching play style every now and then.

"It might be good that she can activate muga no kyouchi but…" Sanada trailed off. "We still haven't seen her true play style."

When the score was 4-4, Miki stopped emitting aura and started huffing and puffing badly.

"You still can't control it fully, huh?" Yukimura asked.

"I still have more…!" Miki grunted and unleashed another set of aura, going back into muga no kyouchi.

"Damn, I've never seen her play so harsh before…" Hanae said.

"Miki, don't push yourself too much!" Riko shouted.

From then on, Miki lost all two games, all in ten minutes.

The two came to the net to shake hands; Miki smiled and wobbled over to the net.

"Good game." Yukimura said and smiled, satisfied with the match.

"Good game." She grabbed his hand and shook—and fell forward.


	5. Akaya to the Rescue!

Taming of the Devil

Chapter 5: Akaya to the Rescue

"Eh?" Yukimura watched her tip her head onto his shoulder and her body fell forward against his like a log. When he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away, she was unconscious.

"Miki!" Hanae freaked out and everyone rushed into the court.

"Don't worry, she's just sleeping." Yukimura smiled nicely.

"Sanada, could you carry her for me? I'm kind of tired too." He said, grabbing his jacket that was on the floor—he didn't even realize.

"Sure."

'_Huhu, what an interesting girl.' _He chuckled as he picked up his jacket and patted it to get rid of some dust.

Sanada lifted her up in his arms and laid her down on one of the benches.

"I've gone through this before too. And trust me, you don't wake up for a whole day." Yukimura said, putting his racquet away then putting Miki's racquet away too.

"Akaya… you live close to where she lives, right?" Marui asked.

"Probability of Akaya knowing where she lives, 67%."

"Where did Riko go? She must know." Takamoto asked everyone.

"Oh, she left when her mom called." Jackal said. Everyone groaned.

"Where is she when we need her…"

"Akaya?" Yukimura smiled at him. "You know, right…?"

"I know where she lives. She lives right next to my house."

"That's great!"

* * *

><p>"I GET TAKING HER HOME, BUT WHY DO I HAVE TO CARRY HER!" Akaya exclaimed as he walked with Miki on his back. Niou was next to him, holding Miki and Akaya's tennis bag.<p>

"Well you know her the best." Niou simply replied, whistling a little. "Is she that heavy? Want me to hold her?" He asked. "I don't mind."

"I don't trust you with her." Akaya shot at him.

'_Bingo.'_ Niou snapped his fingers in his mind.

"Hou~ So you don't want me to touch her, is that it?"

"That's not what I meant!" He retorted. "It's just that I don't trust you with girls, Niou-senpai!"

"Why?"

"Cuz… You're a trickster."

"So? Like I'll trick a passed-out girl."

"Just no. I'm okay." He grumbled. "And she's not that heavy."

"Is her skin soft?"

"Wha—"

"Does she smell good?" He asked again.

"Stop asking me those things!" Akaya blurted out and Niou smiled dubiously.

In silence they walked towards her house.

"...Do her boobs feel big?" he whispered.

"SENPAI!"

* * *

><p>Akaya and Niou arrived in front of her house.<p>

"Huh, it's literally right next to yours." He looked around and said.

"Yeah." Akaya ringed the doorbell.

Two disjunct melody rang out—the two waited for some footsteps or someone's silhouette to show behind the translucent door.

Nothing.

Akaya rang it again but nothing happened even after ten seconds.

"Does she have a house key in her bag?" Niou wondered and looked through her bag. "Sorry Asano, I'll go ahead and look through your bag."

After a few seconds and rustles he pulled out a keychain.

"Well, there's only one key." Niou said, putting the key to the keyhole. It unlocked with a click and Niou opened the door.

"Excuse me~" He said, with a loud voice but no noise came from the house.

"No one's home." Niou peeped into the kitchen and living room and concluded.

"Okay, I'm going to my house to have my mom look after her, I'm kinda scared that no one's inside." Akaya said and turned towards the doorway.

"Woof!"

The two flinched in surprise; when they turned back, in the hallway there was a golden retriever puppy intently staring at them.

"It's a puppy."

"No shit, senpai, it's a snake."

"Shut up wakame. Come here~" Niou crouched and reached his hand out and the puppy willingly came forward.

"It's cute." He said, lifting the puppy up in his arms. The puppy tried to sniff his owner;

"So it knows its owner. I guess that's good."

"Alright, let's just get going." Akaya went outside and Niou stepped out too.

"Bye-bye puppy~" Niou said and tried to close the door, but the puppy just whimpered and ran towards Akaya, trying to sniff its owner.

So in the end, Niou grabbed the dog and decided to head over to Akaya's house with it.

"MOOOMMM!" Akaya yelled out and with urgent footsteps his mom showed up at the doorstep.

"OH MY! MIKI-CHAN!" She gasped.

"She's kinda half-fainted half-sleeping from the practice. I tried to go to her house, and no one's home." Akaya took off his shoes while his mom took off Miki's shoes.

"Bring her in! Take her to your bedroom, my bedroom has baggage all over it."

"Alright."

"Awwww a cute puppy! Is it yours Masaharu-kun?"

"Ah, no. It was in Asano's house. It tried to follow us so we just took him."

"Okay. You come in too, Masaharu-kun."

"Ah, actually, I have to go right now. I'm meeting up with my friend." He put the dog and the bags down.

"Oh, I see. Then thank you so much, Masaharu-kun, you are so sweet."

"Che, sweet-my as—OW!"

"Ahaha, thank you. Then excuse me." He bowed and left, snickering at Akaya who got a clout to his head by his mother.

Akaya and his mom (and the dog) headed over to Akaya's room. Akaya put her down and wiped some sweat off of his forehead.

"Akaya, bring a shirt and comfortable pants. She needs to get changed."

"Alright." Akaya pulled out a t-shirt and shorts from his wardrobe and handed it to his mom. Then she took it, and put her in straight position.

"…Well?" She turned back and asked.

"Huh?" He asked back, drawing a bit blank.

"Well, she is attractive." She said. "Pretty and cute face too."

Still not getting where she's going at, Akaya frowned and cocked his head.

"Are you going to watch me take her clothes off?" His mom sighed and asked.

"O-OH!" He turned red and immediately ran out of his room. His mom chuckled and began changing Miki.

'_Sometimes I really don't like people around me…' _Akaya groaned, turning red from his mom's teasing and Niou's questions when he was piggy-backing her.

"Stupid Niou-senpai." He grumbled. Well, her chest wasn't too small. It was adequate. Just normal enough.

'_What am I thinking?' _He squeezed his head.

And not to mention she smelled like shampoo. And her skin was super soft.

'_STOP DOING THIS KIRIHARA AKAYA!'_

While he was ranting the door clicked open. "I'm done. I'll cook some dinner and get the doggy some food, so stay and watch her, okay? Don't turn the video game volume too loud."

"Alright." Akaya quickly gained his composure and walked into his room.

She was lying down on the bed, sleeping like a log. He sat down by the bedside, rested his head on the mattress.

'_I wonder if both of her parents work.' _He thought as he petted the puppy.

"Ah, well." He turned on the TV and started playing xbox.

She slept so still like that for a while, maybe for about 4 hours; she was lucky that the day after, Friday, was a staff's learning day, or else she would've had to spend an all-nighter doing homework. And to think that she had practice tomorrow too! She needs to wake up soon or else they'll be captain-less.

Akaya's mom came to check on her time to time and she didn't even flinch or move.

"Akaya, here's some dog food. Make sure the dog eats it and when it pees or poos it's your responsibility, okay?"

"Sure." Akaya put out some newspaper by the bathroom and awkwardly told the dog to pee or poo there.

"This is where you do your business, okay?" He said to the dog, pointing at the newspaper. Then the puppy did pee there.

"Good boy." He was just glad that the puppy was potty-trained.

Hours passed, and it became about midnight.

"That's weird…" His mom said, coming into the room. "I'm not getting any calls from anyone. You said her parents weren't there, right?"

"Yeah. The house was empty. Should I check her cellphone or something?"

"Yes."

Akaya went through her cellphone and was slightly surprised to find that there was no missed call. He then found a contact list—he found D- "Dad" in English first, so he called that number. It went straight to voicemail box.

"Huh, weird." He scrolled through again to look for her mom's number—but there weren't any.

'_And what could this mean…?' _Akaya thought. "Mom, no one's picking up." He said.

"That's a trouble. I guess we'll keep her for the night. She'll wake up tomorrow. But sheesh, she's sleeping a lot! Are you sure she's sleeping?"

"Yeah. It's probably a deep-sleep. Yukimura-buchou told me that he did the same too and he slept for ten hours."

"I see. Well, you know what to do, and in case she wakes up just let me know."

"Okay."

Akaya set up some blankets on the floor and went to sleep, thinking that she'll wake up the day after.

* * *

><p>When Akaya opened his eyes and checked the clock it was about 10 o'clock. He checked the bed—there she was, in the same position. Her chest wasn't rising or falling and she was so still.<p>

'_I-IS SHE DEAD?' _Akaya suddenly felt his heart drop, thinking of this.

"O-Oi, Asano. A-Are you still alive?" He nudged her a little.

"…" She, of course, did not respond.

"Asano, wake up!" He started freaking out.

"WAGH!" She suddenly rose up and yelled.

"AAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHH!" Akaya screamed, literally jumped through the roof, and landed on his butt. He grasped his heart and breathed heavily.

"ASANO!"

"Ahahahaha!" She clenched her belly and laughed at him, pointing at him with her finger.

"THAT WASN'T FUNNY!"

"Ahahahaha" She kept on laughing. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't know you'd get _that _scared." She wiped some tear at the corner of her eye and said, still chuckling.

"OF COURSE I WOULD GET SCARED IF YOU YELL LIKE THAT AFTER SLEEPING FOR TWENTY HOURS!"

"Sorry, sorry~ man, you're just too cute to not make fun of. I get why your senpai-tachi tease you so much."

"C-C-Cute?" He stuttered, turning red. "You… you…!"

"Hm?" She looked down and found that her clothes were different. She slowly lifted her chin up, looking at Akaya in a terrified way.

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT IT WAS MY MOM!"

"Oh, okay." She laughed nonchalantly.

_'How did this girl become the captain...!' _Akaya grumbled inside.

Then she looked around the room.

"Huh… where am I? It looks familiar."

"This is my room."

"Really? Why am I...?"

"Well Niou-senpai and I went to your house and no one was home, so we got worried and just decided to bring you here."

"...Oh no...what time is it?"

"10 o'clock."

"…why is it so bright outside then?"

"Because it's 10 in the morning."

"…What?" She yelped.

"Relax, it's staff learning day. "

"Oh… right." She sighed in relief. "Did I seriously sleep that long?"

"Yup." He answered, getting up. "I thought you unlocked Muga no Kyouchi a long time ago. Did you not sleep the same amount that time?"

"No… I slept for about two hours that time. I guess I pushed too hard playing Yukimura-senpai."

"Huh."

Then she noticed the puppy.

"LUPIN!" She exclaimed; the puppy whimpered in joy and she lifted him up in his arms, petting it.

"The dog followed you here too."

"Lupin, you're supposed to stay home! Uh-oh, did he pee anywhere? Although he's potty trained…"

"Yeah there wasn't any problem. Come on, let's get something for you to eat." He said, opening the door.

"…Kirihara?"

"Yeah?" He turned back.

"…Sorry, and thanks." She smiled sweetly and thanked; Akaya felt jittery and giddy, and could feel his cheeks heating up.

"N-No problem. It's the least I could do since you help me with English."

"But still, it's really nice of you." She got out of bed and walked towards the door. Akaya gestured for her to exit first, keeping that "lady first" style. They went downstairs and found a table with food on it. Akaya read a note—

_Aka-chan and Miki-chan, _

_I cooked some breakfast for you two to eat. Go ahead and just heat the soup and make sure to clean up afterwards, Akaya. _

_I suddenly got an emergency call from my work so dad and I won't be coming home until very late this evening. Make sure Miki-chan eats, and Miki-chan's clothes should be done drying in the backyard. _

_I already fed Lupin so no need to feed him again, Akaya._

_And Miki-chan, don't worry about it, we're glad that we could thank you for tutoring Akaya this way. Then, have a good day you two! ;)_

_-Kirihara Akiko_

"You're mom is definitely the sweetest person on earth." Miki said.

"Yeah, yeah, let's eat."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: NIOU AHAHAHA ;) you silly little trickster ahhh I love niou so much okay i'm done with my rambles**

**Akaya to the rescue! Ain't he a real gentleman! **

**Better leave a review for an extra-long chapter! **

**Leave a review! Subscribe to follow! Tune in for more Akaya-cuteness! **


	6. Understanding

Taming of the Devil

Chapter 6: Understanding

The two sat down and ate; Akaya really wanted to ask her about her mom.

"H-Hey, um…" He began.

"Yeah?"

"I… I tried calling people you might know last night." He said.

"Mmhmm"

"And, um. I don't know, do both of your parents work? Cuz I tried calling your dad but he didn't pick up and I couldn't find your mom's number."

Miki's arm froze at that. Then she started eating again.

"I don't have a biological mom. I have a step mom."

Akaya just listened.

"She divorced my dad when I was born, and I have no idea where she is. My dad got remarried to this other woman when I was in fifth grade. She never liked me and I didn't like her either. I came to Japan because she was trying to make me go away, so I came to Japan alone when I got in middle school."

"O-Oh."

"Her son's really nice, although we're not even blood-related. It's just her."

"I-I'm sorry."

"No, that's fine. You know, I didn't even tell this to most people, I only told this to Riko so far."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked… You didn't have to tell me…"

"Don't worry about it." She smiled. "It's really not that big of a deal. Maybe it's because you're really close to me." She grinned.

"…O-Okay." Akaya just stared down at his food, trying to cover his blush from showing.

They ate, changing the subject to talk about.

"Thank you for the food~" Miki said. "I'll wash the dishes."

"No, I'll do it."

"No I could do it. I should do this much."

"I can do it, don't worry about it."

"Well then we could split!"

So they ended up standing next to each other, one scrubbing the dish and one rinsing and organizing it.

"If you live alone… isn't it lonely?" He asked.

"…Sometimes, but most of the time I have Riko come over and hang out time to time, I have my Lupin, and I'm busy studying and playing tennis. So it's not as bad. It is bad when I have to play video games by myself, though."

"You? Play video games?"

"Yeah. Who says I can't? Why, do you like video games?"

"Yeah."

"Do you like action genre?"

"Yeah."

Then she explained what kind of console she had and what kinds of games she had, and gladly for Akaya, he wanted to play the games she had.

"You could come over and play then!" She said.

"Okay!"

"Heck, you can come right after this until we go to practice."

"Sounds cool." He grinned and he felt something as he was trying to grab a dish inside the sink..

"Eh? What's this, it's squishy." He held it up, only to find himself holding onto Miki's hand.

"That's my hand." She laughed.

"Ah! Sorry." He let her go, turning red—again. He was blushing too much these days, especially with Miki around.

They were done with the dishes fairly quickly. Miki grabbed her clothes, put Akaya's into the washing machine, got changed, and got ready to leave his house.

"I'm ready~" She said as she came downstairs and found Akaya waiting at the doorstep.

"Let's get going then."

When the two left the house with Lupin in her hands, Akaya got a phone call.

"It's Yukimura buchou." He said as he picked up.

"Hello?"

"_Akaya?"_

"Hi, buchou."

"_Did Asana go in safely?" _

"Uhh she kinda had to stay at my house."

"_So I heard from Niou. Is she okay?" _

"Yup. She's right next to me."

"_You guys are together still?" _He asked in a slightly surprised tone. He was in a room with Yanagi and Sanada who came over for a little hang-out session/tennis team talk.

Akaya never _ever_ hung around a girl before. The team barely did. Niou was with girls just to pull his new tricks on them and Marui was around the girls to get cookies they bake from Home EC. Yukimura was popular with girls but he didn't like loud things so he tended to avoid them.

But Akaya was in that stage of "ew girls have cooties," and it surprised the Big Three to find out that he was getting along surprisingly well with this second year captain.

Yanagi and Sanada both raised their eyebrows—looked at each other—and looked back at Yukimura. Yanagi had a mischievous smile on his face as his head began busily calculating… possibilities.

"Yeah. I'm going over to her house to play video games."

"_Heh~ Can I talk to her?" _

"Sure. Hey Asano, Yukimura buchou wants to talk to you." He said and handed her the phone.

"Hello?"

"_Hi Asano~" _

"Hello Yukimura-senpai."

"_Are you feeling okay? It seems you've slept quite a lot." _

"Yeah, I think I slept about seventeen hours."

"_Wow. You should be careful, don't strain yourself too much especially when you activate Muga no Kyouchi." _

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you. I'm sorry to cause you a burden the other day."

"_Don't worry about it, as long as you're safe it's fine. Can you come to practice?" _

"Yes, of course."

"_That's great then. I just called to see if you got in safely and it looks like you did. I'll see you at the practice." _

"Alright, thank you senpai. Bye-bye." She hung up and gave the phone back to Akaya—only to have her phone ring again.

"Hello, Hanae-senpai?"

"_Miki! Are you safe?" _

"Yeah, I'm feeling great." She said. "Don't worry, I just slept for a while."

She assured Hanae and Takamoto who was next to her that she was completely fine and that she could make the practice.

"Your buchou's so nice." She said as they stopped in front of her house's door. She took out her key and unlocked it.

"That's how it seems on the outside… on the courts, when he gets mad, he's scarier than Sanada fuku-buchou." Akaya shuddered at the thought.

"I can't imagine him being scary…" She raised her eyebrow and said.

"You wouldn't want to, trust me."

They stepped into the house—Miki put Lupin down and he ran over to his toy box while Miki and Akaya headed over to the living room.

"Here it is~" She opened up the cabinet next to the TV and revealed a game console that Akaya really really really really wanted but couldn't get because of his mom.

"Aaaand I have the games here. Pick what you want to play, I'll get some drinks."

* * *

><p>Akaya and Miki were about 2 hours into playing games. Akaya found a surprising side to Miki:<p>

She loved action games (and was good at them) to a point where he felt like he was playing with another guy to his side. They were playing the game Halo 3 and Akaya was surprised to find how well she played the other games too.

"Do you usually play these kinds of games?" Curious he asked.

"Yeah. I don't like princess-y games, they're boring. And it's more challenging. I get bored after I'm done with homework, so it's either practice tennis, study, play with Lupin, or play games." She answered. "And Lupin's really good at playing by himself." She laughed.

"You're lucky to have all these games..."

"You're welcome to come over any time and play with me." She said. "Since you don't have a console letting you borrow the CD won't be a help... but you can always come over."

"Really?" Akaya yelped in joy.

"Sure." She replied cooly.

"Thanks!" He beamed.

They played games, took a break, then got ready to go to the practice. Akaya really enjoyed having Miki around him.

"Ah, Kirihara?" She called him as they walked towards school.

"Yeah?"

"You wanna go get dinner with me after school? My treat since you did help me."

"Sounds good." He said, happy that she wanted to do something together. But then why was he happy?

They were definitely a lot closer than they previously had been, all after a day.

"You're pace is slowing down! Run faster!" Miki yelled as she monitored the club members run their warm-up laps.

"Uwaa, strict as always~" Marui whistled, looking over to the other court.

"Marui, focus!" Sanada yelled.

"Yessir~"

After practice, Akaya waited at the place he usually waited for Miki; she was changed in her normal clothes, running towards Akaya.

"Kirihara~"

"Yo."

"Alright, let's get going! I know a super good barbeque place." She said, smiling.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Niou yelled from behind the bushes. Marui and Jackal was with him too. "Our lovely Akaya-chan is hanging out with a girl... this is totally new."

"I didn't know they got so close after a day!" Marui exclaimed too.

"Oi, Niou, Marui. It's not good to peep like this it's their business."

"It's our kouhai, Jackal!" They exclaimed simultaneously.

* * *

><p>"Order up!"<p>

"I want this one this one and this one!"

"Okay!"

"Akaya that bastard... he's ordering so much! I'm so hungry!" Marui drooled from outside of the shop.

"You really like meat, don't you?" Miki laughed and said.

"Yeah! I mean, meat is the best. It keeps you going." Akaya laughed too. "Who doesn't like meat?"

"That's true. Eh, isn't that..."

"OH SHIT SHE SAW US HIDE!"

"What is it?" Akaya turned around too.

"I thought I saw some of your teammates... I guess it's just my imagination."

"Huh, I guess you're still tired from yesterday."

"Maybe. Well, let's dig in!"

* * *

><p>"Aaah that was good~!" Akaya pat his belly and exclaimed while they were walking home. "Thanks Asano."<p>

"No problem!" She smiled brightly, making Akaya fluster again. He seriously had no idea why he was being so fidgety around her.

"You know, you're the only girl that I actually talk to."

"Really? No way!"

"No, really. All other girls are either just scared of me or just fangirls who bury me with love letters." He frowned, imagining the time when his shoe locker was flooded with love letters.

"Heh~ Kirihara must be really popular!" She exclaimed.

"No, I would have to say the most popular person is Yukimura-buchou. He's good-looking, nice, smart, and mostly good at tennis."

Miki nodded. "I think you're cool too!" She said.

"Wha, wha, waa" Akaya immediately flushed red again, stuttering.

"Ahaha, just saying, you know. And by the way, that Red Eye Mode thing, I don't think it's that scary."

"Huh... you're weird."

"Hey, I'm just speaking out my mind."

And like that he found the first girl who understood him the best.

* * *

><p><strong>Please pleasseee my dear reviewers, check out my AtobeXOCXNiou fic, Like A Bird's Eye! And review! And subscribe! I will love you lots :D <strong>


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